Page 58 of Undercover Shadow
Relief flooded through me.
“However…” Viper’s voice was sharp when she cut in. “We don’t authorize operations behind a handler’s back. That’s not how MI6 functions.”
My stomach dropped. “But?—”
“Unit 23 will authorize the mission,” barked Typhon. “But MacTaggert will be informed. As soon as the op is secure.”
“But—” I repeated.
“You heard me.”
The words came out before I’d fully thought them through. “Then I quit. Effective immediately.”
Silence crashed across the connection, and Viper’s expression sharpened. “Leila?—”
“I have to do this. With or without support from SIS.”
“This is enough to refuse you and inform MacTaggert,” she spat back at me.
My eyes met Typhon’s. “If I don’t do this, Idris’ death will be in vain. And, Typhon, I will never forgive you.” I turned to Viper. “Or you.” I took a deep breath. “You both know I have the means to ghost. I’ve done it before, and I can do it again. I may lose this chance, but there will be another. I’ll make sure of it.”
Neither spoke for several seconds. Finally, Viper did. “Very well. I’ll serve as your handler again, but only for this mission. You’ll have full op authority, but you’ll report directly to me.”
“No. She’ll report to me, given my unit is authorizing as well as funding this,” Typhon clapped back. “But I have another caveat. Vanguard goes with you. If necessary, I can pull him from the Glenshadow assignment.”
“I accept those terms.”
“I’ll arrange your cover identities, wardrobe, and logistics.” Viper’s eyes were steady on mine as she spoke, as though she hadn’t heard a word Typhon said. “The fallout from this is yours to handle. When Tag finds out—and he will find out—you’ll deal with the consequences.”
“I understand, and I will. So, who do I report to?”
When they both answered, “Me,” Typhon smirked and shook his head. “Both of us. But never again. Got it?”
“Roger that.”
The feeds disconnected, leaving me staring at a blank screen in the growing dawn light.
My hands trembled as I closed the laptop. The weight of what I’d just done set in. Once again, I was ruining any chance I’d have to be with the man I loved. But hadn’t he already made that decision for me?
I stood and returned to my room to prepare for a day of careful omissions and half-truths with the one person I’d never wanted to deceive.
Tag foundme in the library midmorning, looking every bit like a man who’d slept well and had no inkling of the subterfuge taking place at his estate.
“Making progress?” he asked, nodding toward the plethora of notes on the table.
“If Labyrinth has facilities at Glenshadow, they likely have them elsewhere too.”
He moved to stand beside me, close enough that my chest tightened with what I was about to do.
“We’ll need to check Blackmoor and Ashcroft systematically. Con and Ash should search their estates when they return,” he suggested.
“That makes sense.”
We worked in silence for the next hour, in what should have been an easy collaboration. Except it wasn’t. Every word I spoke was a careful navigation around the truth.
When my tablet buzzed with an encrypted message from Viper at eleven hundred thirty, I angled it away from Tag as I opened it.
Cover established. Helena Moore, art collector, recently divorced. Background verifiable through multiple sources. Wardrobe and documentation being delivered to hotel in Brodick. Vanguard briefed. Extraction protocols in place. Deploy 1645 hours.
